Computer Science and Information Technology Internships

Students in CSIT can gain the necessary real-world experience  to enter the IT workforce through an internship. Students are encouraged to take part in internship opportunities to improve skills and knowledge and earn credits at the same time. 

Basic Information

• Students in BIT program MUST take internship.
• Students must be senior to take internship.
• Students in BIT need to take ITFN 4014 Internship Cooperative to complete an internship.
• Students in BSCS need to take CSCI 4370 Internship in Computer Science to complete an internship.
• Departmental approval is required to take an internship.

Eligibility Requirements

• ITFN 4014: ITFN 3003 Professional Development and Ethics with a minimum grade of 'C' and ITFN 3144 with a minimum grade of 'C'
• CSCI 4370: CSCI 3300 Professional Development and Ethics with a minimum grade of 'C'

Procedure to Enroll in Internship Courses

To complete an internship, you will need to complete the following:

1. Internship Learning Agreement (ILA). The ILA is essentially a contract between you, your internship supervisor, and Clayton State University. It must be signed by you and your site supervisor before submitting to Internship Coordinator. Access the CSIT ILA form.
2. Learning Objectives. This document should contain at least three (3) learning objectives. These describe what you are going to be able to learn by participating in this internship. There are guidelines and a sample to help you when writing this document, but here are a few things to keep in mind:
   • Be sure to work on these with your site supervisor as they can help you figure out what you will learn from this experience.
   • Keep your learning objectives professional; that is, well organized and free of spelling and/or grammatical errors.
   • A good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't want to submit this document to your supervisor, then don't submit it to the Internship Coordinator. 
   • Make sure you look over them before you submit to the Internship Coordinator. The ILA will not be approved by the Internship Coordinator until these are correct.
3. A copy of your resume.

Deadline for Submitting Paperwork

• Fall: August 1
• Spring: December 15
• Summer: May 1

Tips for Writing Learning Objectives

Learning objectives are goals. They're things that you aim to learn by the end of your internship. These are not tasks, but they are drawn from the tasks that you will complete. Here are additional tips for writing acceptable learning objectives:

• Read over them before submitting them to the Internship Coordinator. You may feel that you're pressed for time and just want to get them done and submitted, but if you submit them without looking over them, you run the risk of having them sent back to you for revisions.
• Make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors. This can be done by following the first tip; look over them before submitting. You may consider having another person look over them for you. Since we know what we want it to say, we tend to skip over errors and read them as they are intended to be rather than as they are, so having a person who hasn't spent time writing it and looking over it may help find errors that you may have missed.
• List your learning objective, then use a short paragraph to describe how you're going to meet that objective. Follow the format of the sample that was given. There are additional sample paragraphs below for more help.
• Consider starting your learning objective with action words. These action words should signify learning or expansion of knowledge. Some examples are develop, gain, expand, enhance.

Additional Samples:

Learning Objective 1: Gain an understanding of a new programming language

ABC Incorporated uses C++ to create their software. At Clayton State, I have been exposed to the Java programming language, so the transition to C++ should not be too difficult. Ms. X will provide materials and tutorials for me to use to familiarize myself with C++.

Develop first-hand knowledge of the software development process

All of the experience that I have so far with software development has been through projects in class. This internship will allow me to experience how it works in the industry. I will work with Mr. Z and his team to find software solutions for Software Limited's clients.

Internship Coordinator